Wire bar and process for making same



June 23, 1936. -K. A. LINDNER WIRE BAR- AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb; 5, 1936 INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 23, 1936.

' WIRE BAR AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME Filed Feb. 5, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY K. A. LINDNER I 5, 7

June 23, 1936. v K. A. LINDNER I WIRE BAR AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME- Filed Feb. 5, ess

3 SheetsSheet 3 ATTOiRNEY v Patented June 23, 1936 PATENT orricr.

. 2.045.277 .wmn BAR AND PROCESS FOR MAKING SAME Karl A. Lindner, Baltimore, Md., assignor to American smelting and Refining Company, New ork, N. Y., a corporation ofNew Jersey Application February 5,1936, Serial No. 62,394

6 Claims.

This invention relates to the production of metal castings of the type ordinarily referred to as wirebars and more particularly .to a process for treating said bars and the improved product provided thereby.

In casting copper wire bars, for example, which generally are from four inches to five inches in width and depth and from, say, fifty to sixty inches in length, the copper is cast in 1Q horizontal open faced molds with the result that the upper surface of the casting becomes oxidized. In addition'to having a higher oxygen content than the remainder of the casting this set surface is wrinkled and. upon subsequent roll- 15 ing and fabrication imperfections appear in the finished product.

In order to. overcome these defects it has been proposed to cast the bars in vertical molds but such practice has not effectively solved the prob- 20 lem by reason of the fact that .vertical casting itself is an expensive'operation and the bars produced thereby are subject to deep piping.

It has also been proposed to remove the oxidized surface on the horizontal cast bars by subjecting the castings to a. simple milling or planing operation but this practice also has failed to satisfactorily solve the problem principally by reason of the fact that sharp broken edges are left by the cutting tools and the sharp right an- 30 gles at the edges of the bar are the source-of various slivers in the subsequent working operations.

The present invention provides a process for treating horizontally cast bars which eliminates entirely the defects heretofore noted and provides an improved bar which precludes imperfections in the final product. In general the invention provides for milling the oxidized surface of the bar and removing the rough and irregular edges to produce a bar having smooth, rounded or beveled edges extending substantially the entire length of the bar.

The invention and the manner of practicing the same will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine suitable for practicing the invention; the view illustrating the directions of movement of the bar dur- 50 ing treatment and also the extent of such movement;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the machine, the wire bars mounted thereon being shown in sec- 55 tion, the view illustrating the arrangement and travel of the wire bars are indicated by the podisposition of the cutters employed in operating upon the bars; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed view showing the manner of clamping the bars in position and the arrangements of the cutters operating upon the 5 bars, the view being taken generally along the line 44 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; v

Fig.. 5 is a top plan view of a mold for horizon-' tally casting the wire bars;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken along the line 6-6' of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a horizontally .cast wire bar; 1

Fig. 8 is a cross-section taken along the line .3-8 of Fig.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of an improved wire bar of the present invention; and

i Fig. 10 is a cross-section taken alongthe line l 0lil of Fig. 9.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the machine embraces a base I, upon which is mounted an oscillatable work table or carriage 2, upon which the bars may be mounted in pairs, and which is operated in any usual manner. This table. is provided with clamping and straightening .devices 3, 3 which are adapted to clamp and straighten the wire bars 4 adjacent to their ends and to carry the wire bars 4 between a pair of motors 5, 5. The wire bars 4 as they go to the machine are of the usual shape, having tapered ends 23 and set surface 43 with the portion of the bars intermediate the ends having substantially parallel sides. The limits of 36 sitions of the bar shown in Fig. 1, and the direction of travel of thebar is shown by the arrows 6, 6 in Fig. 1, it being clear from this figure that the bar is moved from its full line position to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 1- and then back again to its full line position;

- these operations being repeated as many times as is necessary to impart the desired shape to the bar. The clamping and straightening devices 3, 3 are operated from air cylinders I, I in the usual 'manner. 1.

The .motors 5, 5 are shown .as inclined toward each other, thedi'stance. between the motors beting adjustable by. means of the mechanism shown 0 in Fig. 3, comprising gears 8, 8 meshing with, worms 9, 9 on each end of shaft III. which shaft is operated by means of the hand wheels I I, H on the end of the shaft. Gears 8, 8 are mounted on shafts l2;-'l2 secured in the motor mountings 5 reducing gearing I5 which is enclosed in housing l1, and which'drives a shaft |8 extending through the motor mounting l3, the shaft I8 having mounted thereon a milling cutter I9 which is adapted to operate upon the fiat oxidized surface of the wire bar 4 to remove the layer of oxide from the surface. During this operation, of course, the table or carriage 2 upon which the wire bars are mounted is travelling towards the cutter so that the wire bar will be moved continuously relatively to the cutter in operative engagement therewith so that a uniform planing of the bars will be effected. When the wire bars are moved from the full line position of Fig. 1 into the dotted line position of Fig. 1, the direction of travel of the carriage 2 is automatically reversed so that the wire bars mounted on the carriage are moved back into engagement with the milling cutters I9, this operation being repeateduntil the oxide surface has been completely removed.

It will bevobserved from the drawings that operating in conjunction with the milling cutters l8 are radial or edge cutters 20, 20; these cutters being mounted in pairs for operating on the sharp edges of the wire bars produced by the cutters l9. These cutters are mounted in pairs on shafts 2|, 2| which are suitably driven by the respective motors.

produced by the cutters l9, l9 and cut the edges of the bar so as to produce a rounded or bev-- eled surface of such depth that all the aforesaid irregularities are completely removed, leaving;

' trough shaped recesses 25, 25 where they are collected. A chip conveyor, not shown, may operate in these recesses 25, 25 to convey the chips to the end of the machine for further disposal. i

It will be noted that each of the clamping vises 3 embraces the parts 23 and 21 engaging adjacent sides of the wire bars 4, 4 as will be apparent-from Fig. 4and cooperating with these parts 26 and 2l-are the pins 28, 28 mounted in the ends of a yoke 29, which is adjustable by air pressure so as to cause pressure to be exerted upon-the wire bars by the pins 28 so that each wire bar 4 will be straightened and tightly clamped against the clamping surfaces 26 and 21.

.These clamping members 28 and 21 desirably have theirsurfaces notched or milled as indicated at .30 for preventing the wire bars from slipping during the cutting operations. The clamping pins 28, 28 are threaded as indicated at 3|, and are held in position by a nut 32 screwed down onthe threads 3|.

Again referring to the radial cutters 20, it

These cutters 20, 20 round off or bevel the sharp, irregular edges will be understood that any suitable driving mechanism for these cutters may be used. One form of such mechanism is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the drawings, and is shown as comprising a. worm gear 33 mounted 5 upon the shaft I8, the gear 33 meshing with a worm 34 on one end of a horizontally extending shaft 35, the other end of which also is provided with a worm 36, meshing with a gear 31 on the upper-end of the shaft 2| upon which radial cutte'rs 28, 20 are mounted. This drive mechanism is duplicated for both motors, as is obvious.

It will be noted that the cutters 20, 20 are splined on the shaft 2| so that they may move toward or away from each other longitudinally 15 of the shaft in conformity with the shape of the wire bar 4. In order to enable these cutters to follow the tapered ends of the bar, recessed collars 38, 38 are provided on the shaft 2| between the bearings 38, 38 and the cutters 20, 20. Bela-- tive movement of these cutters on the shaft 2| to follow the configuration of the wire bar is obtained by timely manipulation of the forked members 40, 40 engaging collars 38, 38 by any suitable means, thus permitting the edges of the 26 bar to be rounded or beveled for the-entire length thereof as shown in Fig. 5.

It will readily be appreciated by those'skilled in the art that the wire bars of the present invent'ion offer distinct advantages over the ordi- 30 nary wire bars which are horizontally cast in molds of the type shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in which 4| represents the mold and 42 the cavities therein, and utilized without being treated in accordance with the present invention.

In addition to copper wire bars, the invention may be'applied to castings of brass, aluminum, or other non-ferrous metals where the casting is to be subjected to subsequent hot or cold'working operations.

This application is a continuation-in-part of Karl A. Lindner, Serial Number 746,114, filed September 29,1934.

What'is claimed is: I

1. A process for preparing copper wire bars 45 with tapered ends for subsequent working operations which comprises horizontally casting the bars, milling off the usual oxidized surface of the bar, and further milling oif sharp, irregular edges along substantially the entire length of the bar including the tapered ends to prevent formation of the bar and the resulting irregular edges of the bar along substantially its entire length includ- 60 ing the tapered ends thereby preventing later formation of surface imperfections in the finished product by subsequent working of the bar.

3. The process for producing an improved copper wire bar with tapered ends which comprises casting the wire bar in a horizontal mold in the usual manner, straightening said bar, milling off the oxidized surface of the cast bar and further milling the sharp edges along the sides of the 70 milled surface including the tapered ends to yield rounded or beveled edges extending substantially the entire length of the finished casting.

4. A milled copper wire bar having substantially parallel sides and, tapered ends, all edges 7 mm p 3 thereof mm smoothed and beveled for mhctnnwith mun, cast, milled copper wire bar tially the entire length of the bar inclndinl the havinfaubptnntifliy penile! aides and tapered v tapered ends. ends. tree irom set and having the- 5. A copper wire bar having substantially pcredges which bordered the set surface or the cast- I aliei sides and being tapered at both ends, said in: rounded or beveied for substantially the en- 5 her having the set surface milled therefrom and tire icnzth o! the bar includinz the tapered ends. having its edges rounded for the entire length of the bar including the tapered ends. KARL A. IJN'DNER. 

